Finding the Best Yes

Do you ever feel like you’re in way over your head? Like maybe you’ve said ‘yes’ to about a hundred more things than you should have, and now you’re staying up all night trying to catch up on the laundry, or writing emails, or icing three-dozen chocolate cupcakes?

Or maybe you’re just up because two in the morning is literally your only opportunity for a little me-time?

Do you miss spending quality time with your husband, your friends, your family, because you’re so burned out just trying to be the best mom you can be?

When was the last time you were able to sit down with a hot cup of coffee and your Bible and just have a quiet, uninterrupted visit with Jesus?

If you can relate to the frustration in any of these situations, I created this website for you.

You see, these are all of the things I've been struggling with in my eleven years as a mom. I’m a chronic overachiever and perfectionist. I want to do everything, and I want to do it right now, and I want to be perfect at it all.

You can guess how well that’s been going.

With each new kid that we welcomed into our family--a total of four at present--I felt myself edging closer to the brink of my limitations.

Self-care was the first thing to go. Who needs to look nice when they’re chasing small children around all day, right?

Next to go was my work. There was a time when I could stay home with the kids and run my consulting company, no problem. But as soon as two kids turned into three, I just couldn’t swing it anymore.

Over the next couple of years, I started falling short in an increasing number of areas, and one by one, I let things slip from my life. Volunteer work, side hustles, play dates, book club. All of it fell by the wayside, often with awkward and poorly executed departures by yours truly.

By the time our son was born in 2017, it was all I could manage to keep everyone alive and healthy and I was exhausted just trying to stay on top of that.

To be sure, letting go of many of these things was both necessary and right. It created the space I needed to accept God's invitation to rest and liberated me to be a better mom, focusing on the things that matter most: my family, my faith, my friends, and my writing.

But it wasn’t easy. Coming to terms with your innumerable shortcomings never is. Figuring out what the ‘best yes’ is means saying no a lot. It requires a lot of prayer and internal conflict. It means letting other people down and missing out on some of the things that are still life-giving for you.

I believe that this process of finding our best yes is critical to our own perceptions of success as moms. And we can’t do it alone. For those of us who are Christians, we must rely on God heavily throughout this process, to guide our hearts and redeem that which we feel we have lost.

But we also need people. We need people who understand what we are going through because they are going through it, too. We need support, and encouragement, and connection as we sort out what our best yes looks like. We need friends who will reassure us that our value and self worth are not tied to what or how much we get done. We need friends to whom we can turn in our darkest days, knowing that they will extend both their ears and their prayers in our direction.

And that is why this site exists.

I would love to be that friend for you, but even more than that, I believe God wants to build here a community of strong, determined, faith-filled women who are committed to listening for His whispers and acting on His words, even when it means letting go of the things we hold so close.

I certainly don’t claim to have all of the answers (or even any of them). I, too, am still figuring these things out, and I’ve learned that as our family evolves, and as God calls us ‘further up and further in’, my own strategies and mechanisms for thriving must evolve too. But I am excited to be following Him, listening for His nudgings, leaning into His will, and sharing this journey with you.

Can I count you in?

What You Will Find Here

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Honest stories from the frontlines of parenting, marriage, homeschooling, and faith

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Thought-provoking articles on these topics that empower you to embrace God's gift of rest and find your own best yes

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A community of fabulous women who will encourage and support you

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Juicy details about my books, the writing process, and the characters I can’t wait to introduce you to

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Info on the books I read, or have read, if I think you might find some benefit from them

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Fun giveaways, because giving fabulous gifts is one of my love languages